Monday, 21 September 2015

Corinne Koppenhague (Tarnaud)

Corinne, left, with Bob Wollek and Jacques Rey in 1970

Corinne
Koppenhague was a versatile French racer, probably best known for coming 11th
at Le Mans in a Porsche Carrera in 1975, as Corinne Tarnaud. Her team-mates
were Yvette Fontaine and Anny-Charlotte Verney.

Her
motorsport journey began in 1968 or 1969, depending upon which source one
trusts. Her cousin, Marie-Claire Cibié (Beaulieu), had been involved in events
like the Tour de France, and Corinne had become friends with some of the young
guns of French motor racing, including Jacques Laffite and Jean-Pierre
Jabouille. Her first practical experience of a motor race was when she helped
out in the pits at the Reims 12 Hours, working for Sylvain Garant. This spurred
her on to start her own competition career. In 1969, she co-drove for
Marie-Pierre Palayer in the Critérium des Cévennes, in a BMW. They won the
Coupe des Dames.

In the
1970 Critérium des Cévennes, she navigated for Bob Wollek, and helped him to
second place in his Porsche 911. She shared a similar car with Thierry Sabine
for the AGACI 300 at Montlhéry, but the result has been lost. Her performance
on the Critérium des Cévennes was enough to win her the French Coupe des Dames
for co-drivers. She also drove herself in some French rallies, in the Porsche,
at Chataigne and Poitou.

By
1971, she had moved more fully into the driving seat. Her biggest event of the
year was the Tour de France, which she had entered in a Porsche 911. Her
co-driver was Christine Rouff, later a key member of Team Aseptogyl, and they
had a third team member in the shape of a tortoise, which slept in the
Porsche’s glove box and was fed by the mechanics. Corinne and her team were 27th
out of 49 finishers, and ninth in the 2000cc GT class. Navigation had not been
completely left behind: she sat beside Francine Warein in a Simca for the
Morocco Rally. At some point, she also co-drove for Christine Dacremont in an
Opel Kadett, perhaps this year.

In
1972, she stepped away from Porsches temporarily, and drove an Alfa Romeo 2000
GT. She did not finish this year’s Tour de France due to engine failure, but
was 32nd in the Ronde Cévenole. She was still active in French
rallies in the Porsche, and entered that year’s Paris-St. Raphaël Rally.

She did
not compete in 1973. It was this year that she married, and thereafter, raced
under the name Tarnaud or Koppenhague-Tarnaud. She was eighth in the 1974
Paris-St. Raphaël, driving an Alfa Romeo 2000. Another run in the Ronde
Cévenole led to an 18th place, out of 33 drivers, and she was 27th
in the Tour de France, in an Alfa Romeo again. Her team-mate for the Tour was a
Madame Hoube, who had co-driven for her in rallies previously.

1975
was the year of her Le Mans adventure. She was part of an all-female team, led
by Anny-Charlotte Verney, whose Porsche 911 Carrera RS they drove.
Anny-Charlotte was another regular on the French racing and rally scene. Yvette
Fontaine, the third team member, was also multi-talented, and from Belgium.
They were the better of the two all-female teams that year, and were second in
the Series GT class. She teamed up with Christine Beckers at Zolder, driving a
Triumph Dolomite, and even made the trip out to Sweden, to race a Volvo in a
one-make cup there. She was all set to drive in another Tour de France, too,
but the death of her intended team-mate, “Charlotte”, in a road traffic
accident, meant that she dropped out.

She
attempted to qualify for Le Mans again in 1976, driving a TOJ SC204 with Jacky
Haran and Jacques Marquet. They were not successful.

She was
certainly still involved in stage rallying in 1976, and was part of one of the
later incarnations of Team Aseptogyl. She drove a little Autobianchi A110 in
the Monte Carlo Rally for the team, although she does not appear to have
finished. She may well have rallied elsewhere in the pink A110, as she appears
in Aseptogyl publicity material for that season. She entered the Mont Blanc Rally
that year, but crashed out. As well as the Aseptogyl car, she also drove an
Alpine-Renault 1800.

1977
was mostly spent away from motorsport, “resting”, as Corinne claimed in a
contemporary interview in Echappement.
In 1978, she raced an Alfasud in a European one-make series, finishing third at
Albi, and setting a lap record in the process.

After
1978, she became more and more involved in rally raids, first on motorcycles,
then on four wheels. In 1979, she entered the first Paris-Dakar Rally, on a
motorbike, one of seven female riders making history that year. She rode a
Suzuki, but did not finish. The following year, she moved into the car class,
in a Willys Jeep. This led to another non-finish. She attempted the Dakar
another eight times, once more on a motorcycle in 1985. Her last try was in
1988, when she drove a Land Rover. Her other vehicles included a Range Rover, a
Jeep Hotchkiss in 1981 and a Toyota pickup in 1982.

After
her retirement from active motorsport in 1988, she has remained involved in
competitive sport. She still rides motorcycles recreationally, and skis
competitively, despite her advancing age.